Man charged with driving more than 100 mph claims he was being chased

BELFAST, Maine — A Morrill man allegedly on a 100 mile per hour ride this week — at times without his lights on — was issued two criminal summonses after an off-duty game warden said he caught him in the act.

Gary J. Desautels, 20, had been driving a 2003 Subaru station wagon on Monday night in Morrill when Warden Chris Dyer apparently noticed that he was driving erratically, according to a Belfast police official.

“When Warden Dyer first saw the vehicle, it was traveling at speeds of over 100 miles per hour,” Detective Bryan Cunningham said Wednesday afternoon.

The warden tried to follow the Subaru, but “couldn’t keep up with him,” Cunningham said.

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Then Desautels appeared to be trying to evade Dyer, the detective said, by turning his headlights off, driving erratically and even hiding from him in a parking lot.

When a Belfast officer stopped him on the Marsh Road at 8:50 p.m., Desautels claimed that he had been having trouble with his lights.

He also said that he had noticed a truck following him when he left his house, and then tried to speed up to lose its driver.

Desautels was issued a criminal summons for exceeding the speed limit by 30 miles per hour or more and one for driving to endanger.

He was also issued violation summonses for failure to stop at a stop sign, for operating without lights after dark and for failure to display an approved registration plate.